Cuisine

This is the meal that never ends. Yes, it goes on...

Oh, rapturous joy, a sunny and eighty degree day here on the
Shore. I imagine it is one of the very last we shall see on our doorstep until
May, but I will take it without an ounce of remorse.

When the weather is warmer, we tend to think of cooling
foods, and now that the days are getting a tad bit chillier as time goes on,
our thoughts sway to the hardy foods — foods that satiate and placate our
hunger while giving us fuel to perform whatever duties may lay ahead of us.

I, for one, am glad that one of my favorite foods is also
one that lends itself well to the cooler month menus: lamb.

With a taste that is a touch gamier or richer than beef, it
is not a sought after choice by many a carnivore. Personally, I am glad I’m the
only one in the house who enjoys lamb. That simply means that on “lamb day,”
there is more for me.

The lamb holds a special place in many cultures around the
globe, and I am still surprised that so many Americans don’t care for it; a
sentiment I share with tongue-in-cheek.

I have sat at many a table in restaurants where the lamb is
served tasting as though it had soured the day before. I have personally
prepared leg of lamb of which I am still ashamed.

Lamb is fickle meat and it must be treated gingerly and
lovingly.

As I sat down to write this, I mused at the thought of me
grilling through the winter, even with a foot of snow on the porch. That’s why
I built the porch, so I wouldn’t be tracking through mud. Ergo, I grill all
winter long and don’t have the luxury to make comments such as, “I guess this
is the last time that I fire up the grill until next spring.”

Of course, with the “end of the world” just under two months
away, I don’t have to worry too much about grills or porches, or lamb for that
matter.

So for now, I will relish at the thought of grilling some
beautiful lamb chops that I picked up from Doug at Minit Market on the island.

The grill was fired about 10 minutes ago, and the wood
chunks that reside in the back right corner are starting to smolder. I can
already smell it. With the lid closed, the large chunks will not catch on fire,
so there’s no need to soak. In fact, if you read this column in the last six
months, you know that I never soak my wood for smoking.

Watch any barbecue challenge on TV and tell me which one of
those big players is using wet wood. They don’t.

So the grill is ready to go, and the lamb has been
marinating for about four hours, which makes it just ready enough to go.

I open the bag and can immediately smell the fresh thyme
quickly overruled by the fresh rosemary. Followed by the lemon, onion and olive
oil, this is going to be fantastic.

And now that I am finished writing, I have to figure out
something else that will keep me in the sun for one of the last sunny, warm
days of 2012.

Lamb Chops

Serves 4

2 racks of lamb

1 cups EV Olive oil

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cups dry red wine

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 sprigs fresh thyme

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1 medium shallot, roughly chopped

1/2 onion, roughly chopped

1 tsp. smoked Spanish paprika

2 Tbsp. Kosher salt

1 Tbsp. fresh coarse ground pepper

Step 1: Before you do anything else, decide on how much fat
you want in the finished dish.

Step 2: If you want fat, which is ideal, as it will provide
copious amounts of flavor, simply remove the silver skin from the rack (that
iridescent white skin under the fat) as much as possible without damaging the
meat.

Step 3: For the fatty version (pictured and soon after
devoured), you are ready to go to Step 5. For fancy-schmancy lollipops proceed
to Step 4.

Step 4: Proceed with the first two steps and then examine
the eye of the rack of lamb

Step 5: Imagine a neat circle and cut off the excess fat in
a curving fashion until you get to the rib bone

Step 6: Remove fat and feed it to dog

Step 7: For this fashion of lamb, I cut the rack into 4
equal pieces. Most racks will have seven long bones and one short, so just cut
them evenly by thickness and you will be fine

Step 8: Combine remaining ingredients and toss lamb in

Step 9: Place in a container and allow to marinate for at
least 4 hours if time permits. If you are hungry, no one will call the food
police on you

Step 10: Fire up the wood grill, or if you are a grill
cheater like me just throw some dry chunks of quality smoking wood on the grill

Step 11: Remove the lamb from the marinade and grill until
it has reached the temperature of your liking

Step 12: Remove from grill and allow to slack out for 10
minutes to let the meat “relax” a little bit